– According to the Texas Department of Public Safety, the death toll from the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, has risen to 22, with at least 19 students, one teacher, and a second school staff slain.
Gov. Greg Abbott said that the 18-year-old suspect, a Uvalde High School student, is also deceased. Abbott claimed the suspect “shot and murdered more than a dozen pupils and a teacher in a brutal and incomprehensible manner.”
The incident started when the suspect, Salvador Ramos, shot his grandmother, according to Abbott and law enforcement officials. According to initial reports, the shooter’s grandmother had died, but law enforcement officials informed ABC News that the grandmother was still alive and in serious condition as of 11 p.m.
Public Safety Officials in Texas.
Ramos then left his house in a pickup, which he wrecked in a ditch near Robb Elementary School, according to Texas public safety authorities. According to law enforcement authorities, he escaped with an AR-15-type gun and multiple magazines. He was also protected by body armor.
A Uvalde ISD school resource officer confronted the suspect as he neared the campus, but Ramos shot him, according to law enforcement sources. According to ABC News, the shooting occurred as soon as the suspect entered the school, and all of the victims perished “in the same spot within the school.”
According to ABC News, the suspect exchanged fire with Uvalde ISD police and Border Patrol Tactical Unit agents inside the school.
“A law enforcement call for help about an active shooter incident at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde prompted Border Patrol agents to react. When agents and other law enforcement authorities entered the building, they were met with gunfire from the subject, who was trapped inside “In a statement posted to Twitter, a DHS spokesman stated.
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According to ABC News, law enforcement is now tracking the AR-15 type rifle used by the gunman, as well as the body armor and multiple magazines of ammo.
Eva Mireles, a fourth-grade teacher, was among that slain, according to ABC News. Mireles worked for 17 years at the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District, according to her aunt, Lydia Martinez Delgado. “This is my hometown, a little town with a population of fewer than 20,000 people. I never dreamed this would happen to loved ones, particularly “Delgado said.
Xavier Lopez, 10, was one of the youngsters slain, according to his family. He had just finished fourth grade. His mother had attended his awards ceremony only a few hours before the shooting, unaware that it would be the final time she saw her son, according to his cousin.
“After parents leave their children off at school, they have every expectation that they will be able to pick them up when the school day is over. And there are families that are now grieving “Abbott said. “The state of Texas shares their grief over the fact that these parents will be unable to pick up their children.”
Police Are on The Scene.
According to Abbott, two responding police officers were among the wounded. He predicted that they would survive. Investigators are combing through the shooter’s social media accounts, and he apparently shared videos and photographs of firearms to other people across numerous platforms, according to ABC News.
In the aftermath of the event, Uvalde Memorial Hospital claimed 15 pupils were being treated in the emergency room. According to the hospital, two patients were taken to San Antonio for treatment, while a third was awaiting transportation. A 45-year-old man was also admitted to the hospital after being grazed by a bullet, according to the hospital.
A 66-year-old lady and a 10-year-old daughter are both in serious condition at University Health in San Antonio, according to the hospital. According to an Army officer who did not have an update on their status, two adult victims of the school shooting are being treated at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
According to law enforcement officials, a number of the gunshot victims are the children of Customs and Border Patrol personnel.
Deaths Were Not Confirmed.
Mayor Don McLaughlin of Uvalde did not confirm fatalities, but said in a text message to ABC News that “this is a really catastrophic scenario.” Before providing any information, he added, the agency is attempting to contact parents.
According to authorities, the incident happened soon after 11:30 a.m. local time.
Parents were notified soon after 2 p.m. that their children had been transferred to the Sgt. Willie Deleon Civic Center, the reunion location, could be picked up.
In the aftermath of the shooting, parent Ryan Ramirez told San Antonio ABC station KSAT that he searched the civic center and the elementary school for his fourth-grade daughter.
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Plain Confused and Worried.
“I’m simply perplexed and concerned. I’m trying to figure out where my child is “He told the station about it.
All extracurricular activities on Wednesday and Thursday have been canceled for the balance of the school year. Officials stated the graduation ceremony “will be handled at a later time.” According to organizers, grief counseling will also be offered.
About 90 minutes west of San Antonio lies Uvalde, Texas. The FBI is responding, and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office and San Antonio Police Department are providing assistance.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives’ Houston Field Division has also said that it is aiding in the investigation.
The incident has been notified to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is “actively cooperating with federal, state, and local partners,” according to a spokeswoman. Officials from Customs and Border Protection in the region were also called to the site.
According to a law enforcement report received by ABC News, the National Counterterrorism Operations Center says there is “no known terrorism link” at this time.
Uvalde, a Little Town Expanding in Population, Is Now Shrouded in Tragedy.
The little town of Uvalde, Texas, is known for being the hometown of actor Matthew McConaughey and for hosting Friday night football games.
It’s hardly a community where close-knit residents anticipated being confronted with a school shooting that claimed the lives of at least 14 students and a teacher. According to Marc Duvoisin, editor-in-chief of the adjacent San Antonio Express-News, the news of the shooting, which started late Tuesday morning, left the town rushing for information.
He said, “I could picture a local real estate agent or the owner of a refrigerator repair firm exchanging information about a sibling or cousins who work at the school or the hospital.”
“It’s a location with a lot of links like that, and there was a lot of fear. As those who knew each other or had ties came together, prayers were exchanged on social media.”
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Local Cops, He Added, Looked to Be Stunned.
According to Duvoisin, Uvalde has had significant population expansion in recent years. “A lot of people came here from other states, lured to Uvalde’s scenic beauty and small-town charm, and they rarely expected to face anything like this at their local school,” he added.
According to US Census Bureau statistics, Uvalde has a population of around 15,000 people, with more than 80% identifying as Hispanic or Latino. One in every five people lives in poverty.
According to local writer Brian Kirkpatrick, the community is roughly 80 miles outside of San Antonio and about 70 miles from the border between the United States and Mexico.
“Uvalde is one of those classic Texas communities where Friday night football reigns supreme. Your Friday night football games inspire a lot of civic pride “he added. “As a result, these sorts of communities are incredibly close-knit, and that includes their schools, which are a vital element of the community.”
“So when anything occurs to a school, it has a significant impact on everyone here because many people who grow up here, live and die here. So it’s a community of that caliber.”
